A new campaign against Defra’s environmental budget cuts, which has meant a 7% cut to British Waterways funds in the last year with the loss of 180 jobs, has been announced.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:
“These redundancies show Defra’s budget cuts beginning to bite. Our canal networks will suffer as a result, together with a whole range of environmental and rural services.
“These cuts put our canals and waterways under threat, impacting on a wide range of users including boat owners, holidaymakers, anglers and ramblers. Canals are also important community assets and provide both recreation and a natural environment in many urban areas.”
Earlier this month, Chris Huhne unveiled that Defra had spent over £170m on management consultants since 2002-3.
The figures emerged at the same time that Defra cut a similar amount (£200 million) from its budget for this year.
Sign the ‘Canal Cuts Are Nuts’ petition at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/waterways
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
What should the Liberal Democrats stand for?
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
Ed Sanderson
Jack
Matt (Bristol)
John Grout
Mick Taylor